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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27821719">Homebound</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starveined/pseuds/Starveined'>Starveined</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A Few Sticks and the Reasons Why They're Here [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Henry Stickmin Series (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Anal Sex, But Galeforce Is Very Sorry, But the Panprice Is Only Background I'm Afraid, Fluff, M/M, Misgenderment and Subsequent "Bad Gender Feels", Nonbinary Henry, Selectively Mute Henry Stickmin, Smut, Special BROvert Ops Ending | SBO (Henry Stickmin), Top Charles, anniversary fic, but only after like 9k words of other bs</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 18:27:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>12,774</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27821719</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starveined/pseuds/Starveined</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been a year, now. A year since Henry figured out that he was in love with Charles and had been for a long time.</p><p>They are not short on plans to celebrate.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Charles Calvin/Henry Stickmin, Dave Panpa/Rupert Price, Stickvin - Relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A Few Sticks and the Reasons Why They're Here [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2036230</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>69</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Homebound</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I swear this wasn't supposed to be 12k words. God.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Henry was… nervous. It wasn’t because he was currently on base like usual as he’d grown to see this place as home years ago; but there were of course always all those other infinite ways that this exact situation could lead to horrific death or failure. But no, there was nothing new about that. What really had him going this time were the numbers. Month and day. The last time this combination had held the title of the present, Charles had finally broken and told him that he was in love with him. Then, on that very same day, Henry at last realized that the feelings were very much returned, and all of his sleepless nights of confusion and despair over the foreign storm within himself were finally put to rest.</p><p> </p><p>“Oi, why’re you two lookin even more obnoxious than usual?”</p><p> </p><p>Henry was startled out of his stupor by the sudden voice, but relaxed as soon as he saw who it was. One Rupert Price-Panpa was before them, a shoe kicked up against a wall as he leaned on it. One of their two closest friends on base, and quite the riot no matter the situation. Henry still shuddered at the memories of when they invited him to watch a movie with them and an entire box of innocent cheez-its had somehow ended up dumped on their bed. <em> Under </em> the blankets. They’d never given him box access since. </p><p> </p><p>“Because, Rupert,” Charles playfully snorted, guiding Henry closer until their shoulders touched to make a show, “It’s our-”</p><p> </p><p>“Anniversary, I know, ‘s just fuckin with ya.” Rupert smiled his crooked smile. “I never forget dates, ever. I know botha your birthdays, day month an’ year, so I’m obviously gonna be remembering when you decided to stop being the biggest disaster on base.”</p><p> </p><p>Charles leaned forward and let out an exaggerated ‘hmm’, squinting at the soldier. “Obnoxious, huh?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yyyup.” Rupert produced a cigarette from his pocket and placed it between his teeth, but made no move to light it. The madman had managed to successfully quit cold turkey several months ago, mostly for the sake of a certain special someone, but still carried a few around with him to help with restlessness or to counter-intuitively combat urges.</p><p> </p><p>Henry was silent and very entertained by what was going down, while Charles narrowed his eyes even further at the response. “Well what about that ring there, hm?”</p><p> </p><p>Rupert took the cigarette from his mouth and proceeded to examine his hand with great care, using a finger from his other one to come up and tap at a gold band after a while. “Oh, this? Didn’t know you’d be so stricken by my methods’v accessorizing.”</p><p> </p><p>Henry rolled his eyes and gave Rupert a look, as his act was pretty weak. Charles followed in his footsteps, with the addition of some devastating words. “Nice try, we both saw how Dave sat in your lap for all of lunch yesterday, not to mention how you were literally feeding each other.”</p><p> </p><p>Rupert froze, clearly sensing his defeat. He quickly stuffed the cigarette back into his pocket and poorly attempted to appear casual. “Well… well uh, but we’re married- so… so uh…” He trailed off, surrendering.</p><p> </p><p>“That you are,” Charles affirmed, expression back to one of friendliness. “And pretty ‘obnoxious’.”</p><p> </p><p>Rupert sighed. “Yeah yeah, I know I cocked up my defense, no need t’dwell on it.” Another heavy exhale, and then he smiled again, far more genuinely. “Truth is, I love seeing you around base with each other. I knew you’d make it a year.”</p><p> </p><p>The corners of Henry’s mouth curled up in a smile upon hearing that, but it got him some direct attention in the process. “So what about you, ‘Enry? Any thoughts you wanna share?”</p><p> </p><p>Henry pondered for a moment, gently disconnecting his hand from Charles’ in order to be able to respond. ‘<em>Love seeing you and husband too</em>’, he signed, but Rupert cocked his head.</p><p> </p><p>“Sorry, what was that last one?”</p><p> </p><p>Henry nodded and smiled at him; there was no reason he should have known that sign. ‘<em>H-u-s-b-a-n-d</em>,’ he slowly spelled out for him; and a few seconds after he’d finished, Rupert’s face grew warm.</p><p> </p><p>“O-Oh uh… well, thanks, heh. Guess we’re even now.” Rupert held both of his arms out, and beckoned them towards himself. </p><p> </p><p>Charles was the first to comply, but Henry was quick to follow. Once they’d moved in close enough, Rupert wrapped an arm around each of them and yanked them in even further to lock them in quite the impressive double side hug. They were both taller than him, but he still felt more <em> there </em> and influential, at least to Henry.</p><p> </p><p>“So. What’ve you got planned? Never seen you walk with such purpose before.”</p><p> </p><p>Henry looked in the direction they had been traveling before being stopped, as it was indeed their goal.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, you know, various things,” Charles casually replied. “Mischief.”</p><p> </p><p>Henry looked down and could see the corner of Rupert’s smile over the brim of his military hat. “Well you’d better be proper ready to tell me all about it once yer done.”</p><p> </p><p>Charles subdued a chuckle. “Sure, most of it.”</p><p> </p><p>“If that was an attempt at stealth, ya couldn’t’a done worse,” Rupert laughed in response. </p><p> </p><p>Henry snorted at that one; not minding that Rupert could hear it as he was fine actually talking to him behind closed doors. But indeed, that had not been smooth at all and they all knew it, hence the new heat in his face. He snapped his fingers, and after Charles looked over at him, signed a quick ‘<em>Nice one.</em>’</p><p> </p><p>His partner responded with a look of complete disappointment in himself, answering in a monotone voice when Rupert asked what Henry had said. Their little hug line broke apart after that, Rupert and Charles laughing with each other while Henry joined in under his breath.</p><p> </p><p>When the mood had settled again, Rupert gave them both a simultaneous clap on the shoulder and took a breath. “Well, I’ll stop holdin ya up. Be off, lad n’ lasso!”</p><p> </p><p>Charles was quick to grab Henry’s hand again, seamlessly lacing their fingers together as if he’d done the move a thousand times; which he had. They both waved Rupert goodbye, but didn’t get to walk much further before being stopped again.</p><p> </p><p>“Boys! Happy anniversary!”</p><p> </p><p>The booming sound of Galeforce’s voice was very startling to say the least, but Henry was more caught up in the words it had put forth. Oh no. ‘Boys’. He was not a boy. Dread coiled in his core, sharp and constricting and traveling all the way up to feel like it was invading his throat. But then Charles’ hand squeezed his, and the General appeared to be scrambling for something. “Er uh- I’m sorry, not boys um- guys, folks, ah-”</p><p> </p><p>Galeforce really was trying, Henry had to give him that much. Serving as a father figure for Charles, he’d of course been beyond accepting of the pilot’s crippling levels of homosexuality from the very start, but faced new challenges when approached and told to alter his ways of speech. It was hard, Henry knew. He never would’ve said anything about it in the first place, sure he’d only be shut down or discriminated against, but his boyfriend of a year now had just insisted on standing up for him, and gave the old guy a bit of a smackdown. Galeforce had never been disapproving or disrespectful after finding out about Henry’s divergence from the binary, at least not on purpose.</p><p> </p><p>It was weird, Henry knew. He wasn’t a man, or a boy, but had a name that was undeniably masculine and was pretty okay with being called a he, at least sometimes. Even being called Charles’ boyfriend was usually comfortable, adding yet another layer of conflict to his already disastrous situation. Growing up, he was never addressed by his own name enough to form a real opinion on it, and it always felt good when Charles said it, so there was no reason to change it even if it could make him nervous sometimes. Charles’ signature nickname of Hen could always come right to the rescue in cases like those, too. Then of course there were the days when male pronouns and terms made him sick to his stomach, but this was luckily not something he had to sweat over on a special occasion such as this. Charles wouldn’t have minded, though. He loved Henry all the same; be it as a boyfriend or a partner.</p><p> </p><p>“Are… are you okay??”</p><p> </p><p>Henry came back to reality at the sound of the General’s voice and looked up, finding the older man to be earnestly distressed. ‘<em>Yes, thank you</em>’, he signed back; able to be understood as most everyone on base knew at least the most basic of signs by now to communicate with Henry easier. He was honestly endeared that Galeforce was actually afraid he’d caused a mental breakdown by accidentally misgendering him, but no, not today. He was going to be happy.</p><p> </p><p>Galeforce let out an obvious sigh of immense relief, and Henry could feel Charles glancing at him, probably out of pride that he’d manage to bounce back.</p><p> </p><p>“Well then, you two, I’m sure you know that I am morally obligated to lecture you all the way to the helipad,” Galeforce announced after a small cough to regain his composure as he started to head in a very familiar direction.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, yeah…” Charles sighed, though no actual discontent was evident in his voice.</p><p> </p><p>“Technically speaking,” Galeforce started, “It is 100% against regulations to take military owned vehicles out for fun.”</p><p> </p><p>Henry could see the vehicle in question as they approached it, and smiled a bit. Charles had the dream of owning one to keep for casual use, and while that would be lovely, Henry was sure he’d miss their green-starred friend if they were to part ways with it entirely. It held the origins of their relationship; where notebooks upon notebooks full of written conversation had been frantically scribbled out when Charles wasn’t yet fluent in sign and where countless secrets had been confessed. Though, he wasn’t all that worried about losing it for the time being, since they didn’t exactly have a spare few million lying around to throw at any flying apparatuses. </p><p> </p><p>“<em>Regulations </em> say a lot of things, General,” Charles scoffed, “But I am <em> irregular</em>, a force of chaos. I challenge the very concept of ‘regulations’ with my existence alone.”</p><p> </p><p>Galeforce rolled his eyes, smiling. “Yes, Charlie, I am well aware. Which is why I will be choosing to pretend like I don’t know anything if you somehow get caught.”</p><p> </p><p>Charles smiled and leaned against the helicopter once they’d reached it. “Don’t worry, our plans this time do not entail any bold action.”</p><p> </p><p>Galeforce pulled the door open for them. “Well, I’m glad to h- what in the hell is all of this stuff?”</p><p> </p><p>Charles glanced at the gigantic pile of various things that he’d snuck in the previous night, Henry having to bite back a small laugh at the memory. “As I said, we have plans.” All he had on him now was a large backpack, full of whatever wouldn’t have been at its best after an overnight stay in a helicopter.</p><p> </p><p>The General sighed heavily. “And you knew I’d say yes to this…”</p><p> </p><p>“Yep!” Charles boarded the machine in one seamless leap, landing steadily on both feet and practically twirling around to face them. Show-off. “So thank you.”</p><p> </p><p>Galeforce’s face was expressionless as Henry was given a hand to step up into the cabin, but he broke and instead gave a defeated little smile after a moment. “Welcome. I hope you have fun.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m sure we will,” Charles assured him. “Bye Gale!”</p><p> </p><p>One final wave and the pilot was closing them inside the vehicle and preparing them for flight. Henry was settled calmly in the co-pilot seat, staring down the sea of controls before him. Through countless hours of observation and plenty of rambling from Charles, Henry at this point could probably fly them too. An extremely bad idea for sure as he’d only ever pressed a button or two with a hand guiding his own, but if it really came down to it, if Charles was too wounded or-</p><p> </p><p>“Hey.”</p><p> </p><p>Henry looked up when he felt a hand atop his own, eyes shimmering with reassurance waiting to greet him. He signed a quick ‘<em>yes</em>’ before he could be questioned further, managing a subtle smile. </p><p> </p><p>Charles returned it, leaning over and pulling one of Henry’s fingerless gloves down just enough to gently kiss the back of his hand. “Okay, I believe you.” He manually returned Henry’s hand to him, settling it atop one of his legs and then giving his knee a lingering touch before straightening his posture and adjusting his beloved headset one final time. “So, we’re off!”</p><p> </p><p>It was approaching evening, so Henry was thankfully able to tolerate the levels of ambient sunlight as they rose into the sky without his retinas being obliterated. It was nice, too; moderate temperature and a crispness to the air.</p><p> </p><p>“You doing okay over there?”</p><p> </p><p>Henry said a quiet yes into the mic of his earpiece, not exactly happy about having to talk in this environment but plenty willing in order to ensure that Charles didn’t horribly end them both by having to look over at what he was signing. Though that probably wouldn’t happen anyway, considering how good of a pilot Charles was; even in spite of his unrelenting fantasies of doing things that would get the both of them very fired as well as very killed.</p><p> </p><p>“Well good, because we’re actually almost there already.”</p><p> </p><p>Henry felt a bit surprised; they’d only been in the air for a few minutes. He’d assumed that this mystery place Charles was bringing him would’ve been more of a journey. “Mm?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, it’s pretty close. I haven’t been there in forever, but I still remember it. And I’ll get to share it with you now!” Henry looked over to find a smile on his boyfriend’s face through the concentration of flying them. “Actually, would you mind closing your eyes for a little bit? I’d like it to be a surprise.”</p><p> </p><p>Henry let out a nondescript noise of confirmation, and obeyed. All he experienced was background noise for a few moments, until a soft humming came through his earpiece. A smile, not even bothering to ask permission first, settled on his face as he listened to the other. It was a song they both knew, very well. A special song. Henry could feel as they started to descend, and let out a breath when the machine settled on the ground and its noises slowly started to quiet. He listened to Charles standing as he removed his earpiece, and could feel the warmth radiating from the hand being extended to him without even having to be touched by it.</p><p> </p><p>“You can open your eyes now.”</p><p> </p><p>He did so, but didn’t bother to take in the environment around him too much and instead let Charles pull him to his feet. The door was pulled open and he was assisted in hopping out, onto what appeared to be an extremely uninteresting expanse of grass. </p><p> </p><p>“Trust me, there’s more than you think,” Charles called as he was digging around inside of the helicopter, exiting with a roll of thick fabric and a few pillows. “Wish I could’ve landed higher up, but I think it would’ve compromised the view."</p><p> </p><p>Henry was quick to see what Charles meant. A short walk up an incline and they were atop a cliff, covered in soft green grass and overlooking a calm body of water that extended as far as the eye could see; a bay. The sun had just started to brush against the horizon, the sky and ocean surface aglow with warm light. Henry squinted at the scene before them for a few moments, struck by its beauty, but eventually did have to take mercy on himself and reach for his sunglasses.</p><p> </p><p>“I know it’s not all that exciting or unique,” Charles quietly said, “But it’s the last place I ever got to spend time with both of my moms at once. We used to love camping up here, both because of the view and because nobody else seemed to know about it.”</p><p> </p><p>Henry had stopped looking at the scenery; his eyes only for Charles now. The pilot had lowered his headset to be around his neck, stray strands of wispy hair dancing about the sides of his face from the light breeze as he gazed out over the water. His eyes were glassy, and yet he smiled.</p><p> </p><p>“I think it’s exciting, and unique,” Henry offered in a quiet mumble. Though still outdoors, he trusted Charles enough that nobody else would ever come close enough to hear them.</p><p> </p><p>Charles turned towards him, eyes brightening. “...Okay Henry, be prepared because I am going to walk over there and kiss you, but first I have to get all of this stuff out of my arms so they have room for you.”</p><p> </p><p>Henry observed, eagerly awaiting what was promised to him, as Charles spread the thick and squishy picnic blanket on the ground and tossed the pillows down atop it; followed by his headset being delicately removed from his neck and lovingly placed on one of the blanket’s corners. A strong arm wrapped around the small of Henry’s back moments later, and a hand came to gently lift his sunglasses so they could gaze at each other. Charles looked gilded, backlit by the golden luster of the setting sun and his face tinted rose with blush. </p><p> </p><p>Henry made a face at the breathtaking sight, though. He may have put plenty of value in sitting around and doing nothing for days on end, but a pace like this was something he could not abide. He reached up with both hands, gripped the sides of Charles’ face, and pulled him down a bit more roughly than the other seemed to be prepared for.</p><p> </p><p>Charles <em> mph </em>ed as his mouth was forcefully pressed to Henry’s, but regained his composure quickly; gently removing the ex-con’s sunglasses the rest of the way and tossing them down to the blanket before burying the freed hand in his hair.</p><p> </p><p>Henry didn’t care if they had just gotten there, or if they were still standing, or that he’d forgotten to put the laundry in the dryer before they left. He kept on kissing right through the surprised “<em>uh, wow</em>” that was mumbled into his mouth, and even leapt up afterwards. His legs instinctively clung tightly around Charles’ waist and he felt a hand dart down to grip the bottom of one of his thighs. Even as he felt them teeter a bit, Henry felt no nervousness as Charles started to move them a bit; extensive experience being more than enough to reassure him that he’d never be dropped.</p><p> </p><p>The only thing that finally got him to stop his assault was when he had been successfully carried over to the picnic blanket and lowered onto his back, pillow diligently placed beneath his head. He looked up at Charles, breathing heavily, seeing how pink his lips were and the way they shimmered from the extensive nibbles and licks he’d put them through. Henry’s face was aflame a second later, catching up with just how brazen he’d been and that he was now effectively pinned. “Uh…”</p><p> </p><p>Charles smiled, then, painfully wide and radiantly. “That was very cute, Hen. Thank you.”</p><p> </p><p>Henry scrunched his face up, disapproving of such a reaction. “<em>Cute</em>? I practically attacked you and bit your face off!”</p><p> </p><p>Charles laughed and sat up, Henry quick to follow. “I know, I know. Really swept me off my feet.”</p><p> </p><p>Henry’s defiance turned to bashfulness, smiling with a light, giddy feeling in his core. “Even though you were the one who held me.”</p><p> </p><p>Charles leaned in again and lightly kissed the tip of his nose. “Yes.” He moved back and tilted his head to the side, questioning. “So are you hungry at all?”</p><p> </p><p>Henry took a moment to think about that, shifting. He’d always had issues with eating. He managed to do it enough to get by, but certainly too little by most people’s standards. Now, though, he shouldn’t struggle that much. “Yeah, a bit.”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay.” Charles smiled. “I’ll be back.” He got to his knees, then reached behind himself to retrieve Henry’s sunglasses and carefully put them back onto his face for him. He stood after that, blew him a kiss, and disappeared down the hill.</p><p> </p><p>The first thing Henry did was swiftly defeat his shoes, throwing the worn pair of brown combat boots out into the grass. He really needed to replace them soon, but he feared the discomfort of new shoes. He sighed, then with liberated feet and a layer of protection now between his optic nerves and the devastation of sunlight, gazed back out at the beginnings of the sunset. Filaments of luminosity flittered playfully atop the leisurely rippling water below; a realm of deep azure stained scarlet and marigold. It was always so easy to get lost in color, for him. The shadowy whispers of familiar shades as he lay sleepless in the night, the pale blue skies and lush green hills that passed him by during their time in the air, the warm browns and golden flecks in Charles’ eyes as they bored into his.</p><p> </p><p>“Pretty, isn’t it?”</p><p> </p><p>Henry had heard the footsteps approaching so he wasn’t startled by the words and responded with a nod as he turned in the other’s direction, grabbing a pillow to pull into his lap and hug. Charles lowered himself to his knees on the blanket, setting down the backpack he’d carried all the way from their home instead of stashing in the helicopter overnight to ensure its quality. He listened, quietly but actively, as Charles chattered on about lighthearted topics while he unpacked the almost comically complex picnic they had prepared together earlier in the day.</p><p> </p><p>There were sushi rolls, deviled eggs, practically an entire cheese platter to go with an impressively sized loaf of french bread to feed Charles’ borderline concerning carb obsession, homemade rice cakes, a wide variety of neatly cut pieces of fruit, and lastly, of course; many many sweet treats that Henry had spent hours making. Lemon bars, pumpkin cookies, fudge, and even the cultural sins that were cake pops. But… they were cute. He couldn’t help it.</p><p> </p><p>He’d only discovered his love for baking after moving in with Charles; it was a way to pass the time, be creative in ways that didn’t just make him horribly insecure, and things packed with the maximum amount of sugar had always motivated him to eat more. Charles reached into another bag he’d brought over and threw several more pillows down onto the blanket, earning an amused breath from Henry. Next came an entire jug of water and two dark bottles from a small cooler, then finally some highly sophisticated and romance-inspiring paper plates, cups, and plastic cutlery.</p><p> </p><p>Henry looked at the spread laid out between them, earnestly delighted. With their geniuses combined, they had planned and executed the most epic meal away from home one could ever hope to have. To add to the impressiveness of the situation, not one bit of good ol’ fashioned animal flesh was at all present in any of the food. It had taken Henry many months of knowing him to realize he’d never seen Charles eat any kind of meat in their countless hours of time together, and after learning the truth was absolutely shocked.</p><p> </p><p>He’d thought that a big strong military man like Charles must have gone out into the woods, stabbed grown elk down with sharp wooden stakes and eaten their still beating hearts raw, but oh no, the pilot had been a vegetarian for every day of his life. Both of his parents always had been so he was too, and even once he was old enough to be more independent with his food choices, said the thought of using another conscious creature’s death to fuel yourself left him with a gross and ashamed feeling. ...Never vegan though, Charles had added, a bit guiltily. He deemed a life without cheese and ice cream unworthy of living.</p><p> </p><p>Henry, with his impressive array of eating related traumas and exactly seventeen food allergies, hadn’t ever considered doing something like that before, but once the two of them shared a house he only ever ate what Charles ate and that was that. He felt better too on the diet, like it was making him better inside and out.</p><p> </p><p>“...Is my presentation really that horrendous?”</p><p> </p><p>Henry only then realized that he had been staring, stonefaced, directly at Charles even after a lovingly gathered array of their food had been placed before him; arranged neatly into a heart shape. He almost wanted to cry for a second, but smiled instead and blinked the light back into his eyes, setting his sunglasses aside so that Charles could see. The light had gotten tolerable enough by now to go without them, anyway. “No, I love it.”</p><p> </p><p>Charles’ face twisted into a wide, cheesy grin. “Ohohoho I see what you did there! You <em> love </em> it, because it’s, y’know, a <em> heart</em>. Ayyy!” He made awful finger guns and a clicking sound with his mouth to go with a painfully overexaggerated wink.</p><p> </p><p>But then Henry started laughing, and he hated himself for it because no, goddammit, that was the exact opposite of funny but this was <em> Charles </em> and that smile made his eyes twinkle and cheeks turn a subtle mottled pink, so he really couldn’t help it. A hand reached out and ruffled his hair, but then traveled downward to press a thumb to the corner of his mouth. Face heating slightly, Henry parted his lips obediently and watched as Charles picked something from the food heart, then reached up to place it on his tongue. The hand was retracted and Henry closed his mouth, chewing decisively.</p><p> </p><p>He smiled upon swallowing, and not just for show. It had been a highly adequate strawberry half. Charles returned the expression, and they slipped back into idle conversation as the pilot gathered things up on his own plate and they started their meal. After a few minutes he was given a cup, and Charles held up one of the bottles as a silent question. Henry nodded, and waited patiently as the bottle cap was done away with and a bright bubbling fluid was poured for him. Sparkling cider, because drinking alcohol would cause a classic case of cardiac arrest for him, no big deal. He’d learned that the very hard way at about age nine after his first ever successful heist; of his parents’ liquor cabinet. </p><p> </p><p>Everything was good, as he knew it’d be. Charles was perhaps a bit too good of a chef, and they both knew it. While seeing him eat at all was obviously always a mood lifter for the pilot, Henry could tell that it was always to a much greater degree when it was something he’d made. He was pretty bad at hiding it, looking overjoyed as Henry made steady progress with what was on his plate and looking almost manic with jubilation once the heart was fully gone. </p><p> </p><p>Henry couldn’t really blame him, though. His ribs were a lot less visible than they were when the two of them had first met, and the improvement had only stayed on the rise after things finally figured themselves out between them a year ago today. He was still very thin, yes, but at least he wasn’t having any more incidents of nearly passing out in the middle of missions from malnutrition. Life was a lot less unpleasant this way, it turned out. </p><p> </p><p>He was in the middle of sipping from the water that had been forced upon him when he nearly inhaled the entire volume of liquid straight into his lungs from laughter when Charles picked up what was left of the bread and stuffed a horrifying amount of it into his mouth, completely dry. The regret was swift to make itself known on the pilot’s face, Charles seeming deeply disappointed in himself as he set aside the mere nub of bread he had left behind, and turned to look at Henry. His eyes were glazed with sadness, and he was unable to close his mouth around the immensity of his poor decision. </p><p> </p><p>“This was a mistake,” he managed to mumble around the mouthful and beyond, causing Henry to break and launch into a laughing fit that didn’t show any signs of retreating as Charles began to struggle with the consequences of his unchecked carb passion.</p><p> </p><p>He was refusing to back down, however, so after a full two minutes of careful water intake and subdued choking, he finally managed to succeed. Henry could barely breathe himself at that point, and only felt mildly bad about it. That had been a golden situation and he was not about to deny himself of it. Charles, red in the face presumably from both lack of air and embarrassment, employed a masterful strategy of pouring Henry more cider and in turn forcing him to hold a cup still, helping him to calm down a bit. </p><p> </p><p>Henry sipped and looked smugly over the top of his cup at Charles, who proceeded to calmly eat a grape with all of the dignity in the world. They broke into a few light giggles together after a moment, Henry setting his cup down. He had his eye on what appeared to be the last piece of sushi, as a matter of fact, but upon reaching for it, was faced with the ultimate cliche. Charles’ fingers had landed atop his own reaching for the piece, and Henry could see that he was about to happily let him have it, but oh no, that was not happening. </p><p> </p><p>Henry aggressively snatched the piece, held it up between them, and crushed it in his fist. Charles looked bewildered, but wasn’t given long to ponder what had just transpired. Henry pounced, knee landing perfectly between Charles’ legs as he proceeded to roughly grip him by the back of the neck and slam his other hand against his boyfriend’s face, squished sushi being compressed against closed lips and rice falling everywhere. Charles was understandably surprised and opened his mouth after a moment to allow a negligible amount of the food to be shoved inside, but he was already laughing and this only added to the mess.</p><p> </p><p>Henry took a moment to contemplate his options, but ultimately failed at all of them and ended up laughing as well, falling forward onto Charles and knocking the two of them over in the process. His face landed on Charles’ shoulder, and he gripped handfuls of the thick material of the pilot’s jacket as he snickered, way too pleased with himself. He could feel his companion’s chest moving under him with laughter, hear the sound from above him. He’d always loved that noise, so much. It reminded him of warmth; from the kind of hugs that envelop your entire body and from blankets fresh out of the dryer and from the labored breath of a lover at your neck. Well, it’s not like he’d ever had more than one of those last things, but it seemed an apt enough comparison.</p><p> </p><p>They calmed together over time, giggling fading to even breaths and a hand rubbing slow circles between Henry’s shoulder blades. Charles was the first to speak again, voice impressively calm despite it being obvious he was still trying to fight against the fate of a trachea full of sticky rice. “So, was that your way of asking to move on to dessert?”</p><p> </p><p>It wasn’t, but Henry certainly had no objections. “But of course.”</p><p> </p><p>He would have gone on with his most certainly awkward attempt to get up, but Charles beat him to it and took him along for the ride, ending with Henry straddling his lap and still gripping tightly onto him, their faces mere centimeters apart. Henry thought about how his eyes must have been glimmering, about how pathetic he must have looked, about how Charles would tell him how pretty his eyes were and how much the blues in them reminded him of the sky and the sea. He felt a hand on the side of his face, a thumb trace the subtle jut of his cheekbone, and closed the eyes that had stopped really seeing at that point. </p><p> </p><p>Hold on, not here. Henry allowed Charles to kiss him and shuddered when he felt a tongue gently brush against his bottom lip, but forced himself to pull away after that. Charles cocked his head in question, a whisper of a smile on his face. “You okay?”</p><p> </p><p>“Um…” Of course he was, but if this happened now then all of his baking would end up going to waste as they inevitably scrambled back to the helicopter to do a few interesting things, and that would be just tragic. “Well ah, this isn’t exactly the sequence of events I had in mind..?”</p><p> </p><p>Charles didn’t seem to mind being deterred, smile widening a bit as he removed his hand from the side of Henry’s face to lovingly run it through his hair. “Right, sorry Hen. You’re just so handsome I couldn’t help it.”</p><p> </p><p><em> Not </em> helping.</p><p> </p><p>He huffed indignantly at the impressively blatant compliment, but offered no verbal resistance as his face gathered heat. As much as it hurt him, he did have to force himself from Charles’ lap after a few moments and consequently lose the gentle petting that had found a rhythm on his head. It wasn’t too big a loss though, as he knew how to be quick. Henry carefully set all of the desserts out, and while strategically blocking Charles’ view with his own body, went about making another food heart for two. He didn’t think he had the same specialized skills as the pilot when it came to artistry around the organization of food on a dish, but he did his best.</p><p> </p><p>This best was, according to Charles, beyond perfection if his almost tearful reaction was anything to go by. Henry watched, face locked in a grin that must have looked extremely stupid, as Charles very carefully picked up a small square from a cut up lemon bar and delicately placed it in his mouth, apparently very unwilling to diminish the heart’s appearance. Henry offered a modest nod of thanks to the expected compliment that followed, but then narrowed his eyes as the smile on his face morphed into one of ill intent.</p><p> </p><p>Charles detected this instantly, but his protests were weak. “Wait, no, don’t-”</p><p> </p><p>Henry, without a shred of hesitation or remorse, plucked an entire cookie from the heart and in the process completely ruined one of the curves at its top. Charles wailed, clearly anguished, but was able to start moving through the grieving process when Henry handed him another cookie to match. They chipped away at the heart together, commentating on the darkening of the sky. The sun was long gone by now but still giving off plenty of light from beyond the horizon, painting the sky plum and the ocean scarlet. Stars were starting to appear in the sky, scarce and dim, but Henry was excited all the same.</p><p> </p><p>When their plate had been reduced to just one small square of fudge, they looked at each other. ...And Henry formed a plan. A great plan. A plan that would put every single one of Charles’ to shame. He picked up the fudge, allowed his partner to look all happy about it for a moment, then got to his knees and leaned in close. Charles looked confused for a moment, but didn’t argue before opening his mouth. Henry placed the treat on his tongue, but didn’t move his hand completely out of the way afterwards. He propped Charles’ teeth open with his thumb and forefinger, which earned him a look of bewilderment unlike any other. </p><p> </p><p>“I want to watch it melt,” he muttered in explanation of himself, which seemed to work well enough. </p><p> </p><p>Henry stared the piece down, watching it shrink and feeling warm breaths against his hand for what he perceived to be a long time. Well, until an ungodly amount of chocolatey drool found its way over Charles’ bottom lip and all over Henry’s hand. He jumped back, practically shrieking, while Charles only took the time to swallow before bursting out into hysterical laughter. Henry joined in after about two seconds of frantically wiping his hand on the grass, feeling as if it would be a good comedic detail if he actually started crying but not having the will to muster tears from nothing.</p><p> </p><p>“If that was you trying to be sexy-” Charles coughed out between his fits of laughter. “<em>It didn’t work</em>.”</p><p> </p><p>“I KNOW,” Henry all but wailed, because indeed, the image of that situation he’d had in his mind was nothing like what had actually transpired.</p><p> </p><p>They continued on being absolutely obnoxious, and even after Henry realized how loud he was being, it only took a second of deliberation for him to decide that it was okay. The only person who would hear him here was the one he could never seem to run out of stuff to say to.</p><p> </p><p>When they finally managed to calm down, Charles started packing all of the leftovers up and soon noticed the way Henry had started to expressionlessly stare upwards. He followed his gaze, and smiled at the growing blanket of shimmering lights above them. “You want to stargaze?”</p><p> </p><p>Henry finally moved his head, wincing at the pain in his neck from the awkward position he’d forced it into. A second of stretching, and then a nod, a reserved smile on his face to match the other’s.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay!” Charles leapt to his feet, but lost his balance and teetered for a second, to which Henry snickered at. He got a look, but there was clearly no real irritation in it. “<em>Flawless </em> landing,” He huffed, striking an exaggerated pose and flipping his hair.</p><p> </p><p>“Indeed,” Henry muttered out through more giggling.</p><p> </p><p>Charles beamed, taking immense care while picking up what they were done with along with his discarded headset, presumably to tuck away in the safety of the helicopter. “I’ll be back in a second.”</p><p> </p><p>Another nod from Henry as well as a small wave goodbye, and he watched Charles vanish down the hill for the second time. After being left to marinate in solitude for a few moments, he realized just how cold it had gotten. He already had his favorite coat on, black and soft and forming a cape at the back that reached down to his knees; but that apparently was not enough to stop the cold from bringing him significant discomfort. He’d taken his gloves off to eat, so he fished them out from his coat and gingerly slipped them on before shoving both of his hands back into the pockets. He loved these gloves, fingerless and made of some kind of fake brown leather; mostly because Charles had a matching pair. It made holding hands very exciting in any circumstance, gloves equipped or no.</p><p> </p><p>When the pilot finally returned, a posh blanket rolled up under one arm, Henry felt like it had taken him a bit more time than it should have. “What took so long?”</p><p> </p><p>Charles made a show of shrugging. “Oh, I was just doing some stuff.”</p><p> </p><p>Henry snorted. “Hah, like what, taking an epic piss?”</p><p> </p><p>Another exaggerated shrug. “Perhaps, perhaps not. There are plenty of other possibilities.” Charles walked the rest of the way to the picnic blanket and knealed down upon it.</p><p> </p><p>Henry blinked at him. “Such as?”</p><p> </p><p>Charles unrolled the blanket and picked a couple of small devices from the fabric to set aside, a smile growing on his face. “Tax fraud.”</p><p> </p><p>Henry was instantly excited, he loved this game. “Blackmail!”</p><p> </p><p>Charles turned to fully face him with a smirk and crossed arms. “Arson.”</p><p> </p><p>“Ecoterrorism!!”</p><p> </p><p>Charles was swiftly losing his chill exterior, shouting his next contribution out over suppressed laughter. “War crimes!”</p><p> </p><p>Henry loved him like this, spirited enough for the both of them. “Vehicular manslaughter!”</p><p> </p><p>“Money laundering!”</p><p> </p><p>“Drug trafficking!”</p><p> </p><p>Charles calmed all of a sudden, expression changing. “Aggravated assault.”</p><p> </p><p>Henry was hit with a wave of confusion just then, because that one was certainly not part of their usual lineup. He saw nothing wrong with a bit of creation, though, but before he could think up a new crime to reply with, Charles was lunging at him. Henry squeaked as he was scooped up and placed firmly in his boyfriend’s lap, then kissed all over his face while arms wound tightly around him. He shuddered, making some noises that were honestly pathetic, and leaned into the other’s embrace. The kisses slowed to be lighter, longer ones atop the head, and Henry let his eyes drift shut. </p><p> </p><p>Charles was so warm, he always had been. But not warm enough, apparently. Henry cracked an eye open and shifted a bit until he was helped to sit up straight. “I’m… um… cold…” He managed to mumble, face flushed pink.</p><p> </p><p>Charles’ eyes widened for a bit. “Oh! Of course, I’m sorry I didn’t notice sooner.” He took one of Henry’s hands in his own and lifted it up to look at. From how searingly warm Charles’ felt against his, Henry could be assured that his hand was as cold as it felt. A soft kiss was placed to his knuckles, and then Charles helped Henry to settle back on the blanket.</p><p> </p><p>Following that, the pilot began to remove his own jacket, made of green canvas and complemented by a very fluffy faux fur hood. Henry smiled as his companion moved behind him and started to help him into the jacket, fitting a bit loosely into the garment despite having an entire coat already on underneath it. It was warm, too, having been soaking up Charles’ heat all day. Henry nuzzled into the fuzzy hood, and was given a small kiss on the cheek in response.</p><p> </p><p>He watched, arms curled around himself, as Charles arranged the many pillows into a nest of sorts on the picnic blanket, then gently guided Henry to settle in it. He did, very happily, nestling his head atop a particularly large one of the pillows and soon after having a big blanket draped over him. Henry heard Charles rustle around for a moment, but was relieved to feel a body settling under the covers beside him after just a few seconds.</p><p> </p><p>An arm was wormed under his head and one of Henry’s hands was gently picked up and placed back down atop Charles’ chest. Henry felt warm now, very warm, and was just about to get lost in the sky when he felt something gently press against his ear. Or, <em> into </em> his ear?? Very confused, Henry turned his head, and felt a wire tug at his face. He flicked his eyes to Charles just in time to catch him fiddling with the other earbud on himself before settling and snuggling in close. He held up his phone for a moment, but only to hit play before setting it down again.</p><p> </p><p>A smile threatened to take over Henry’s face, but the calm he felt managed to keep him still. The music playing was quiet, enough that they could easily talk to each other if they wanted, and the song was one that he recognized from the first beat alone. One that they both enjoyed, at home in the playlist of all their combined favorite music. They could have come up with far superior tech to listen to it than splitting a pair of earbuds, but that would have some crippling downsides. It was more intimate like this, to where they could press the sides of their faces together and feel the warmth of one another’s breaths ghosting across their mouths. </p><p> </p><p>The main beat of the song slowly faded in, and Henry surrendered himself to the world above. It was fully dark by now, so with the remoteness of their location and subsequent lack of major light pollution the sky was flooded with pinpricks of light, more than Henry had ever seen at once before. He thought of the stars, their nature, and soon got stuck on their deaths. Many of the brightly blazing lights in the night sky could have already been snuffed out centuries ago due to their vast distance, passing unseen and unheard. Henry used to feel like a star, in that respect. Looked at but never truly seen or understood, incapable of communicating what he oh so desperately needed to.</p><p> </p><p>He’d been a ghost for so many years, just like the stars he was admiring today; when his voice had been returned to him and he’d remembered what it felt like to fall asleep out of something other than fearful exhaustion. He looked at all of those stars, and wondered which ones would be around long enough to have his own light return to them. If so, would they see it? Inanimate they may be, but what secrets could be hidden within the haunting depths of something so vast and unknowable? Maybe the answers to every conceivable question were written in stardust, so that nobody could ever truly understand the universe until all of them were long gone. It would be dark and cold in a world like that, but void of any uncertainty. </p><p> </p><p>Just as he was forcing himself to be right now, in fact. The music was enough to drown out any background noise in his thoughts that had it out for him, and Charles was right here holding him, warm and steady and not a lie. He cleared his mind of the philosophy distorting it to focus more closely on the canopy of stars above, and swiftly located what he was looking for. He weakly tugged a hand out from underneath the blanket and vaguely pointed at a region of the sky. “It’s our sign,” he breathed.</p><p> </p><p>Charles let out a very soft chuckle, but it still sent vibrations through Henry’s entire body and gave him quite the reason to shudder. “I know,” the pilot murmured, “I was just looking at it too.”</p><p> </p><p>The constellation Pisces was a welcome sight indeed, able to be seen especially well at this time of the year. It was no surprise they shared a sign considering that they were only a couple of weeks apart in age, but Henry was still charmed by the fact every time he thought about it.</p><p> </p><p>“You’ve been really quiet, Hen. Are you still comfortable?”</p><p> </p><p>“Hm?” He was. “Yes.”</p><p> </p><p>“This is the ninth song.”</p><p> </p><p>Now that caused Henry to perk up. He’d never noticed the music changing, and yet they’d somehow been curled up here for upwards of thirty minutes? Was it a blessing, that the time had passed so peacefully, or a loss, that so many precious minutes had slipped away? Henry struggled for a bit, until he’d managed to settle on his side to face Charles only to discover that the pilot had already done the same.</p><p> </p><p>In light this low, all Henry could see of his partner was a few vague outlines and an unmistakable glint to his eyes as they stared back at him. How did Charles manage to still be so perfect even when barely visible? Henry wondered what he looked like in the dark, what Charles saw and perceived during their vast array of nights together; good and bad.</p><p> </p><p>He was a bit hesitant at first, but gained confidence as he went until he’d successfully freed an arm from under the blanket and brought it to run his hand through Charles’ hair. He could feel the other lean into his touch, and a hand came to the side of his own face in turn to gently tug the earbud away. With that distraction gone, Henry was better able to immerse himself once Charles had finished turning the music off. His hand slid down until it was at the other’s neck, and a thumb instinctively moved to check for a pulse. It was easy to find, strong and steady, and for a moment Henry swore he could hear it as well until he realized it was his own heartbeat he was perceiving as audible.</p><p> </p><p>His mouth felt very sticky all of a sudden. “Um… are- are <em> you </em> comfortable?” he mumbled out as a late counter to Charles’ previous inquiry.</p><p> </p><p>“Moreso,” came the reply, low and soft, “Now that I can see you.”</p><p> </p><p>Henry curled his toes under the blanket when Charles ran a hand down his side, stopping to rest at his hip. It was innocent, and undemanding, but to him it still felt significant. It always did, when Charles touched him, but to an even greater degree now as they were huddled together in darkness and warmth. And he couldn’t hide these feelings, either, because he could tell that Charles already knew, and was just waiting for him to speak up. Which was okay, because he could do that.</p><p> </p><p>Henry took a breath, and exhaled as gently as he could manage. “Do… do you want to see me more?” He squeezed his eyes shut after speaking, despite the fact that neither of them could see much in this light in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>The hand on his hip tightened and Henry jumped a bit, but not out of discomfort. “...Yeah, I do.” Charles sounded shy about it, but sure.</p><p> </p><p>Henry opened his eyes again just in time to catch a subtle shift in the darkness before a mouth connected with his. It was gone all too soon; Charles sitting up, getting out from under the blanket, and standing. “So, ah, stay warm here for a moment, okay? I’ll go get things set up.”</p><p> </p><p>Henry gave a quiet confirmation, and after Charles had gathered up all of the pillows except for the one his head was on, was left alone with the stars. Restless, he sat up, pulling the blanket around his shoulders but not bothering to wrap it all the way around his front. He still had two jackets, after all, and wasn’t really feeling that cold anymore.</p><p> </p><p>This time, it was both footsteps and a circle of light on the ground that informed him of Charles’ return. “We really should’ve brought flashlights out here sooner,” he lightly laughed. He knealed down before Henry, placed a kiss on his forehead, and then extended the flashlight out to him. “Can you hold this for me?”</p><p> </p><p>He nodded and did just that, and was wrapped in a tight embrace soon after. He heard a grunt from just behind his shoulder as he was suddenly tugged into the air, Charles swiftly finding his footing and darting an arm under Henry’s knees to support him. This new position, being wrapped up in a blanket and in his boyfriend’s arms, would have been fantastic if not for the oh so unfortunate detail that it caused the flashlight to be angled directly into Charles’ eyes. Alarmed, Henry moved it as swiftly as he could, but of course it was already too late and Charles let out quite the disgruntled noise. He tried to apologize, but Charles cut him off with a laugh and said that it was fine. Relieved, Henry angled the beam of light to the ground in front of them so they could safely make it back down to the helicopter.</p><p> </p><p>The door was already opened when they reached it, and while Henry was sure Charles would have attempted to somehow jump-carry him in, that didn’t exactly seem like the smartest idea. Henry asked to be put down and his request was swiftly met, Charles balling up the blanket and chucking it inside the vehicle. Upon climbing inside, Henry could tell that the internal heating system was on, but of course, the most notable thing about the cabin was the blanket on the floor that hosted an absurd arrangement of pillows upon pillows. More than they’d had out on the picnic blanket, that’s for sure, and more than they ever could’ve gotten from around base.</p><p> </p><p>“Charles… where did all of these come from?”</p><p> </p><p>The pilot in question slid the door shut and then walked up behind Henry to ease the borrowed jacket from his shoulders. “Uh… Amazon?”</p><p> </p><p>Henry snorted, not at all surprised. “So how did I never see the packages, then?”</p><p> </p><p>“...Had ‘em go through Rupert first.”</p><p> </p><p>Henry narrowed his eyes and turned around to face him. “So your whole fail at subtlety earlier was an act.”</p><p> </p><p>Charles smiled sheepishly. “I mean… I didn’t really see a different explanation for why I was secretly buying so many pillows so, yeah.”</p><p> </p><p>Henry sighed, but he wasn’t at all upset; the cabins of military helicopters weren’t exactly known for their comfort and they had indeed planned this. Charles would never try to spring something as… atypical as this on him without warning. </p><p> </p><p>His eyes were still closed out of amusement and perhaps a bit of embarrassment, so he didn’t realize anything was transpiring until he felt arms enfold him and lips trail his jaw, ending by his ear to whisper to him. “I love you.”</p><p> </p><p>Henry shivered, sneaking a hand between their bodies to press to Charles’ chest and wrapping the other arm around his middle. “...I lov-” he was cut off by his own light gasp when he felt teeth lightly nibble at his earlobe. “...You too.”</p><p> </p><p>The teeth turned to lips, kissing back across his jawline until Charles found his mouth and placed a kiss there. “Are you warm enough?”</p><p> </p><p>Very much so. “...You can take my coat off.”</p><p> </p><p>Charles smiled at him, eyes half lidded, and gently disentangled their limbs from one another before helping him from the garment as requested. He went to neatly settle it along with his own jacket in the pilot’s seat, then returned and seemed to lose track of whatever instinct had been guiding him. “Uh…”</p><p> </p><p>Henry was comforted by the fact that he wasn’t the only one who didn’t really know what to do. Discounting oral or fingers, this would only be the third time they’d ever slept together and helicopters weren’t exactly the friendliest environment for that. An idea struck him, though, and he trusted it to save the situation. “Here, I know.”</p><p> </p><p>He went to the back of the cabin where all their stuff had been stored, and looked around for a moment until he came back with a speaker. With his own phone, this time, he set up the bluetooth to put on some music of his own and set the device down behind the mass of pillows. It was very quiet, and without words, perfect for falling asleep to or for having a mind-breaking epiphany. Neither of those were part of their plan, however. </p><p> </p><p>Charles perked up again, stride regained, and approached to run a thumb along his cheekbone. “Can I help you lay down?”</p><p> </p><p>One mindless nod later and Henry had been nestled into a strategically arranged mess of the pillows; one of course under his head, two larger ones for each arm, one under his back, and one under his hips. He wasn’t paying any attention to that, though, oh no. How could he when Charles was there too, between his legs and leaned over him, mouth on his neck and hands roaming the length of his body?</p><p> </p><p>A tooth grazed the skin there and Henry’s breath hitched, causing Charles to break away from the spot he’d be focusing on with a small hum. A few fingers wormed under the fabric of his turtleneck and lightly tugged, revealing more flushed skin below the already forming bruise on the side of Henry’s neck.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t think this thing wants me to go any lower,” Charles murmured.</p><p> </p><p>“Then take it off,” Henry replied on an exhale, starting to get impatient. “And get rid of your shirt already too, I want to see you.”</p><p> </p><p>Charles looked at him, seeming surprised for a moment, but didn’t waste time. He sat up and quickly pulled his own shirt over his head first, tossing it behind him without a care for where it landed. Henry watched, eyes fixated on the way his exposed body moved with the motions of starting to ease his top off in turn. He lifted his arms to help, then intently observed as Charles’ gaze swept over his chest and abdomen, knowing he missed nothing. But that was okay, now. That was good, in fact, because moments later it was hands exploring him instead of eyes.</p><p> </p><p>Henry arched his back, feeling as fingers traced over the long-since memorized patterns of his scars and eventually landed at his hipbones, where two thumbs pressed into the soft flesh just past them. Charles laid over him again after that, lips finding his collarbone and slowly starting to trace down his chest. Henry whimpered and arched his back when Charles’ mouth found a nipple and latched on, wrapping his legs around the pilot’s waist and having to bite back another noise at the bit of friction he got from that. Henry had one hand buried in Charles’ hair to hold on with all of his might while the other one gripped at his shoulder, subconsciously pushing down as he wanted things to progress further. Which they did, but more slowly than he would have liked.</p><p> </p><p>Charles spent plenty of time at his chest, but did mercifully start trailing soft kisses and licks down his stomach until he was stopped by fabric after a few minutes. He looked up, eyes wide and shining, and Henry was lost on how a person could look so… nurturing in a situation such as this. The expression on his face must have been pretty indicative of how he was feeling, because Charles turned his head back down a moment later to press a firm, lingering kiss to the very obvious impression in Henry’s pants. He all but squeaked in response, hands desperately searching for something to do until one found a place atop his own mouth and the other balled itself into a fist against the fluttering of his heart. Charles hummed, moving slightly away to instead bring up a hand to rub over his clothed length. </p><p> </p><p>Henry knew that he was being stared at again, but he’d closed his eyes. He also knew that Charles was well aware of how torturous this was for him; this being the first intentional touch he’d gotten. They’d of course been heatedly pressed against each other for many minutes up until this point, meaning that Henry was painfully conscious of the fact that Charles was hard too, and had been for some time now. Just like him. Fortunately, the pilot was either starting to run out of patience as well or was deciding to take mercy on him, because when Henry found reason to open his eyes again, it was to the feeling of his pants and underwear having been inched down just enough to expose the head of his cock and the fluid that had already began to weep from it.</p><p> </p><p>Charles stared intently at that, then up at his face for a moment, and gingerly eased his clothes down enough to have full access before taking Henry in a hand and wasting not a second before placing him in his mouth. And with that he cried out, attempts at keeping quiet and reserved abandoned as ten spidery fingers flew down to grab handfuls of Charles’ hair.</p><p> </p><p>Henry knew he was sensitive, more than was apparently normal, but that wasn’t exactly a bad thing in his position. Up until a couple weeks ago, his sexual experience had consisted of a ten minute journey through an incognito window when he was a teen that swiftly ended in him being horrified and disgusted. He’d even touched himself extremely sparingly throughout his entire life, viewing it as strange and distasteful despite being faced with a mild instinct to do so. Well, up until a month or so ago, at least, when he’d started having some very interesting thoughts. </p><p> </p><p>He could tell that Charles was pleased with himself for having unearthed a completely new side of him, and of course equally pleased with this situation, hot mouth and tongue making Henry’s life very difficult. The challenge was of course that this wasn’t quite what he wanted this encounter to consist of, so he tried to speak up, but his voice died and came out as a strained, unintelligible noise.</p><p> </p><p>Charles picked up on the tone of it, however, and slowly lifted his head, tongue dragging torturously slowly along the underside of him. “...Henry? Do you want me to stop?”</p><p> </p><p>His voice was <em> a lot </em> huskier than normal, forcing a whimper out from between Henry’s clenched teeth and a weak, involuntary twitch of his hips up into the hands around him. “U-Um…” He did, but not entirely. “Y-es I want… I want you to… to f…” he trailed off, “...Me.” Yeah, he couldn’t say that, not by a long shot. Maybe one day, when he’d built worlds more confidence and lost the worst of his shy act, but today was not that day.</p><p> </p><p>Charles got the message, though, and Henry could see the desire that flared in his eyes before a reply came. “...Okay.”</p><p> </p><p>The hands left and instead started to further tug at his pants, Henry’s cock falling wetly back down atop his low abdomen. He lifted his legs to assist in his remaining clothes being discarded, then timidly spread them again and swallowed thickly as he watched Charles fetch a small bottle from beside them. The pilot squeezed a generous amount of the viscous fluid inside onto his fingers, and lowered them between Henry’s legs. He placed the other hand flat on his stomach, and looked at him, seeming a bit shy himself now. </p><p> </p><p>Henry nodded as permission, then sucked in a sharp breath and arched his back when a single finger was slowly worked into him. Charles was being very gentle with him, so it didn’t hurt at all, quite the opposite actually. Once making sure that he was okay, Charles wasted no time before curling the finger upwards to press and stroke along the constricting warmth inside of him. It took him only seconds for him to find and focus on a spot that forced a choked moan from Henry’s mouth and set him trembling, and through that Charles was able to ease a second finger in before too long.</p><p> </p><p>Charles pushed them in and out of him, slowly but firmly, spreading them a bit from time to time to try and prepare him more quickly. Henry didn’t blame him for that; this had been dragging on for far too long. Another few minutes and he was comfortably taking three, so when Charles wrapped a hand around his cock and gave it a slow stroke in time with a sharp jab upwards inside of him, Henry was just about done. He yelped, then tried to disguise his panting as a huff of indignance. “I-I’m ready, please, just…”</p><p> </p><p>Lucky for him, Charles appeared just as eager upon hearing that, swiftly removing his hands from Henry’s body and taking a moment to finally struggle free of his own remaining clothing. He pressed back close between Henry’s legs a moment later, laying their lengths atop one another before popping the bottle back open to drizzle more lube out over them and then use both of his hands to grab them and stroke the both of them with the slippery substance. </p><p> </p><p>Henry groaned and felt the instinct to look away out of embarrassment, but did not give in to it and continued to watch. Charles was… big, or, bigger than him at least. It’s not as if he had a real frame of reference for what was typical in the department so perhaps he wasn’t qualified to make any observations; but he did anyway because he very much liked it. Popular culture told him he should be upset by this situation, but he wasn’t in the slightest. It only aroused him more, seeing them compared to one another and watching the thick strands of fluid break from between them when Charles pulled back to position himself. </p><p> </p><p>One of Henry’s hands found a place atop the one of Charles’ that was gripping his hip, and the other braced itself on the ground as he sucked in a breath and managed to meet his lover’s eyes. “Please.”</p><p> </p><p>He saw what that single word did to Charles, turned him weak and desperate, but was forced to stop observing when he began to be entered. Charles kept going, pushing forward until he was fully seated inside and then letting out a heavy breath when Henry whined and contracted around him in response.</p><p> </p><p>“This is… okay?”</p><p> </p><p>Henry nodded, not really in a state of mind that left him capable of any kind intelligent response. He felt very full, but that wasn’t enough. “M… move…” was all he could breathe, both of his hands instinctively curling into fists. </p><p> </p><p>Charles nodded and swallowed audibly, relocating his free hand to Henry’s other hip for a better hold before starting to ease himself out. Henry’s reaction wasn’t quiet when the pilot pushed back in, settling their hips together for a lingering second before repeating the motion. His breathing was ragged and he was already a mess, but he felt no shame about it. Charles’ cock felt so much better than his fingers ever could and that wasn’t his fault, so why not give in?</p><p> </p><p>Henry groaned, long and loud, and this seemed to be enough reassurance for Charles to pick up the pace with a noise of his own. As much as he wanted to keep watching at this point, Henry allowed his head to fall heavily back down onto the pillow, eyes threatening to roll back in his head when Charles managed to firmly brush along the bundle of nerves inside of him that had him twitching and leaking onto his stomach. The same movement had the same outcome several more times in a row until Henry was genuinely concerned that he was in danger of finishing already, but then the movement within him slowed and a warmth settled over him.</p><p> </p><p>Henry let out a heavy breath and felt his face warm even further when eyes were all of a sudden boring into his, hazy with lust. Charles pushed hard against him, and Henry had to choke back a flustered noise as his oversensitive length was slickly ground between their bodies. He felt a hand leave his hip and a thumb press to his lower lip a moment later, prompting his mouth to open and let out the whine he’d been holding within. He panted for a second, looked up at the man still shallowly grinding into him, then tilted his head just slightly to capture the thumb in his mouth and gently suck.</p><p> </p><p>Charles let out a moan at the sight and feel of that, only allowing him to continue for a few heated seconds before tugging his hand away, using it to grip the side of Henry’s face, and leaning down to kiss him instead. It was sloppy, uncalculated, hungry, and full of way too much tongue to have ever been pleasant in any other circumstance. Here, though, Henry was sure that Charles was succeeding in drinking the sanity right from him; until the pilot suddenly broke away with a pant and sat back up, apparently even more impacted than he was. </p><p> </p><p>Charles looked at him still, though, harshly thrusting into him and moving a hand to wrap tightly around his cock. Fire seemed to surge up Henry’s spine, but it was nothing compared to the way he felt after hearing words.</p><p> </p><p>“Henry,” Charles rasped, seeming almost embarrassed, “I’m… I’m gonna need you to cum soon, okay?”</p><p> </p><p>While that already would’ve been an easy request to conform to, having it spoken aloud managed to have Henry teetering on the edge of orgasm with just one more forceful collision of their hips and a swift stroke up the length of his cock. He managed to shrilly pant out another “okay” in response, but lost his voice after that. Charles looked relieved, clenching his jaw and putting significantly more muscle behind it than before when he started moving again, rapidly sliding himself in and out of Henry and tightening his grip around him even further. When the hand then started to sporadically move on him, it was a matter of seconds before Henry was fulfilling Charles’ request; back canting sharply upwards and the breath getting caught in his throat. </p><p> </p><p>He felt as he tightened around the other, and the wet strands that fell over his abdomen, the sensation finally opening his throat enough to wail in time with the broken moan that came from Charles as he sunk into him a final time. Henry felt warmth spread within him and convulsed, legs trembling as they tightly locked themselves around Charles’ waist. Two chests heaved, four hands gripped at bodies or pillows until knuckles paled and eyes locked, barely seeing but still perceiving all that was needed.</p><p> </p><p>It seemed to be taking a long time for Henry’s head to clear, but the process was helped along when Charles started to slowly pull back, disconnecting from him with a pant and earning another tired noise from Henry to match. He managed to lift his head enough to look down at the mess he’d made of himself, breath hitching at the sight. He didn’t get to observe for long, though, because Charles’ hands soon slid up his sides until they were holding him around the ribcage and the pilot leaned over him. A warm tongue traced the lines, gently lapping up every last drop of the cum that Henry had covered himself with. Charles trailed down further and further, leaving wet stripes of saliva to glisten on pale skin as he went and soon reaching the end of the mess before punctuating his treatment with a wet kiss at the tip of Henry’s slowly softening cock. </p><p> </p><p>He righted his posture and let out a long breath after that, but after a few seconds of limbo, dawned a subtle smile and reached down to wipe the thin sheen of sweat from Henry’s forehead. “That was good?”</p><p> </p><p>A rhetorical question, in Henry’s mind, but he still nodded, allowing his body to relax and forcing the smile on his flushed face to reach his tired eyes. Charles, appearing pleased, then looked down between them and hummed thoughtfully, the sound laced with a bit of embarrassment. “Um, I’d meant to ah… <em> pull out</em>…”</p><p> </p><p>Henry snorted; as if that plan was ever going to work. While yes, a military helicopter wasn’t exactly the ideal environment to be leaking your partner’s cum all over yourself and array of new Amazon pillows, he wouldn’t have it any other way. “Nah, I like it. Get down here.”</p><p> </p><p>An arm nimbly shot out to grab Charles by one of his wrists, and tugged. The pilot seemed taken off guard by the sudden command, but cooperated without hesitation. He fell down beside Henry in their pillow fortress and worked an arm under the small of his back, adjusting him until he was comfortably curled into his side, head resting on Charles’ chest. Henry let out a contented sigh once settled, nuzzling up beneath Charles’ chin. The pilot shifted a bit, reaching an arm behind them to shut off the speaker before returning it to further their embrace. That alone was the only thing that made Henry recall the previous presence of the barely-there music, having completely tuned it out long ago. He felt the vibration in his own throat and chest before he realized he was speaking, and didn’t really hear the words that had escaped his mouth until he got a response.</p><p> </p><p>“Ah… I-I love you too, Hen, so much.”</p><p> </p><p>His face warmed at what had slipped free of his subconscious, but was all the same thankful that it had. He’d always been challenged with saying it first, but whenever he managed, the response never failed to be enough to motivate him to try for it again in the future. He was shifted around a bit more, so that they could look at one another, and Henry lightly shivered when a hand came into contact with his face. Fingertips traced the soft skin underneath one of his eyes, along the ridge of a brow, then down the bridge of his nose before finally reaching his lips and lingering.</p><p> </p><p>“...You’re really pretty.”</p><p> </p><p>Henry let out a short breath and smiled at the whisper of the painfully sweet comment, forcing one of his own hands into action to cup the side of Charles’ face in response. “So are you,” he murmured; and it was true. Doe eyes stared back at him, partially obscured by a few stray dark curls. He wasn’t really sure who’d initiated it, but the soft kiss he found himself in a moment later was most certainly what he desired. He kept his eyes closed once they’d parted and relaxed again, fatigue making itself known within him.</p><p> </p><p>He must have dozed off for a minute; rousing at some point to a hand in his hair and a low voice. “Hey, um, it’s only 8 or something, you know. I’d love to see you sleep in an actual bed…”</p><p> </p><p>“Mmm…” It had indeed started getting dark earlier and earlier in recent weeks. However Henry still knew one thing and one thing alone; that he was not going to be getting up. “But this is just as comfortable.”</p><p> </p><p>Charles chuckled softly, and moved his hand down to rest on Henry’s upper arm. “If you let me fly us back to base, tomorrow I’ll tell Rupert that we did nothing but commit tax fraud this entire time.”</p><p> </p><p>Henry let out a snort of laughter, but could not deny the charm in using that of all things as a bribe. “Hm… okay, fine. And I also get to sleep in as late as I want.” For once he was sure he’d have no problems doing so.</p><p> </p><p>“Deal.” Charles started to carefully shift away from him, diligently settling him back into a comfortable pillow arrangement before standing and throwing all of his clothes back on at an impressive speed. </p><p> </p><p>He knealed down at Henry’s side a moment later, package of wet wipes in tow. “Here, let me try to clean you up a bit.” The wipes were cold, but Charles was swift with them and got him back into his underwear and bundled up in a blanket in no time. Another blinding smile, then, despite the tiredness in his expression. “Okay, now I just have to go rescue the picnic blanket and we’ll be on our way.”</p><p> </p><p>“And my shoes,” Henry mumbled, followed up by a shared breath of amusement between them.</p><p> </p><p>“Right. I’ll be quick.”</p><p> </p><p>Henry wasn’t able to confirm if that promise was kept or not, because he ended up slipping back into half sleep almost immediately after he was left alone in the helicopter. When Charles did return, though, he still felt happy about it through all of the exhaustion. The pilot got to his knees beside him yet again, smelling like the crispness of an early autumn night and of home. He felt a firm kiss on one of his temples, then listened as footsteps navigated to the front of the aircraft and a weight settled in the pilot’s seat. He’d come to know that sound well, hearing it in the back of his mind and his dreams when all else had been lost to him.</p><p> </p><p>He’d heard Charles’ voice even more, though, and despite that, it never faded into familiar obscurity for him. Each and every new word was a gift, a noteworthy experience in and of itself. “Alright, looks like we’re homebound.”</p><p> </p><p>If he’d had the energy, Henry might have joked around with the painfully overdone and sappy concept of already being home since they were together, but he did not so his response instead only consisted of an affectionate hum. He couldn’t see Charles, both from the angle and with his eyes being closed and all, but Henry knew exactly what he sounded like when he smiled.</p><p> </p><p>“Mkay Hen, we’re off.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>If anyone perhaps noticed or picked up on this; yes, the spot they were at is the same cliff that Charles' grave is at in the VH ending.</p><p>Anyway this took me several thousand years but oh well. I don't know why I'm talking as if I have an audience here but next up are a few short Copperright things because I got spontaneously inspired.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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